Printed circuit boards are ubiquitous in the world today. They can be found in thousands of products ranging from toys and computers to remote controllers. Printed circuit boards are generally fabricated using a relatively thin piece of fiberglass with thin copper “wires” or traces that are printed onto a surface of the board. Electronic components are then secured to the board and interconnected by the copper traces to form a completed device.
Electronic devices are assembled on printed circuit boards (“PCBs”) because such circuit boards are relatively easy to mass produce and support attachment and interconnection of numerous electronic devices. In the same way that it is relatively inexpensive to print ink onto a sheet of paper, it is typically inexpensive to “print” copper traces onto a sheet of fiberglass. And, a wide variety of trace configuration can be readily produced. It is also relatively simple to place different component parts (chips, transistors, etc.) in appropriate locations on the printed circuit board and then solder those components to secure them to the board and connect them to the copper traces.
Once completed, PCBs can be connected to a host device, including other PCBs. To connect one PCB to another, guide connectors are sometimes used. Guide connectors are mechanical connectors attached to an edge of the printed circuit board in pairs. Usually there are a pair of male connectors on a first circuit board, and pair of female connectors on a second circuit board to be connected to the first circuit board.
Generally, guide connectors are pressed onto a circuit board with a manual or electric press. After the guide connectors are pressed, the guides are usually aligned manually with pliers. The female guides are responsible for providing the circuit board alignment during the interconnection with another board. Many times, the female guides are not properly aligned because of the difficulty in doing so with pliers, and misaligned female guides result in potential damage to the mating male connector.
Similarly, present tools make it difficult to properly install pin connectors on circuit boards. Typically, a pin connector is loaded onto the circuit board and a press-fit tool is placed over the pin connector. The pin connector is then pressed with the press-fit tool using a manual or electric press. After pressing, the press-fit tool is removed and the pin-connector is checked for proper orientation and bent or damaged pins. It is presently difficult to place and press pin connectors to ensure that the pins are properly pressed while minimizing the occurrence of loose pins that can cause contact problems and shorts.
Moreover, typical tools for installing pin connectors only allow installation of a single connector at a time. In many instances two, three, or more connectors are installed on a single PCB. Therefore, using current tools, it is not uncommon to repeat the installation steps for each individual connector. This adds to the processing time and increases the chances for an improper installation.